Epithalamion (for Nick and 경주)
Now the strange and blood-heavy lushness of spring
is passing; the air, once thick-pollen’d, borne off
by some breeze we all feel—and so let us have
done with it, and bear down for the long, hot promise
of summer that is settling into our bodies. This is
the heart of the covenant, as you turn and look into
her face, and you turn and look into his, and speak
these words that mention, so briefly, the end of winter,
the dark of the snow that covers the end of all promises,
that makes us ache as we hear you say it, and yet—
none who sees you standing together could doubt
the wisdom of everything; not even the theodicy could
swerve him; he who can read would see it on our faces
who gather here to be in your sunlight, and feel
for ourselves, the summer that is shining from you both.
The world is the same, one season following the last,
yet once more, somehow, has changed absolutely forever.
– Gord Sellar, for a wedding on Saturday, May 22nd, 2004.
May 24, 2004